For Lexus, it has become a thing of the past to wait for a long time to raise the price and pick up the car. Now many dealers have launched preferential activities in order to clear their inventory and withdraw funds, and the preferential treatment even involves the most popular es. Although the Japanese factory temporarily stopped production, the domestic supply of Lexus will not be affected due to the sharp drop in demand in Europe and the United States and the incomplete customs clearance.
Lexus has been selling well in China for a long time, thanks to its deep understanding of consumer psychology and meeting its demand for car purchase. However, recent indications show that the brand appeal of Lexus in China is as difficult as ever.
Extended inventory cycle, terminal price reduction promotion
"Fifty taels? 200 now has a car, and the official price is 290 thousand. We are promoting sales recently, and we can discount on this basis. The specific price can be discussed with us at the store. " A salesperson of Beijing Guangtong Lexus 4S store told CRRC reporter.
The salesperson also revealed that in addition to ES, Lexus models such as CT and NX also have preferential prices, and the activity lasts until the 28th of this month. In the past, ES models often didn't have existing cars, so it was necessary to book them in advance and wait for two or three months to pick them up. The preferential activities are now launched because the boss is eager to withdraw funds to catch up with the epidemic.
Finally, the salesman said, "You can come to the store when you have time to see if you have got off the bus." The tone was all urgent.
CRRC telephoned the Lexus 4S store in Beijing Garden Bridge, and learned that the NX and CT of the store currently have a discount of about 20,000 yuan. ES has no discount for the time being, which is consistent with the official suggested price. You can pick up the car in a week or so.
Enter Lexus on the web page, and it will display "Lexus is on sale in Beijing on April 10, and Lexus offers a full discount", emphasizing "giving priority to picking up cars, buying expensive goods to make up the difference, and cooperating with regular 4S stores in the city"
Sun, founder of Taibo Ying Si Automobile Consulting Company, told CRRC reporter. Com: "The recent price reduction of Lexus terminals is normal. Dealers estimate that they have to replenish a lot of inventory before and after the Spring Festival, hoping to get a refund as soon as possible. The epidemic itself is an emergency. Toyota should arrange the delivery according to the situation before the epidemic, and it will take time to adjust the delivery volume to the dealers later. Terminal price reduction is a short-term phenomenon. "
For the current inventory situation of dealers, a Lexus insider responded to CRRC. Lexus inventory is at a low level in the industry, and dealers usually only prepare inventory for half a month. But the current inventory is indeed higher than usual, "but it is still in a normal state."
At the same time, the inventory of dealers is rising, and Lexus is experiencing sales failure due to the epidemic. It is reported that Lexus sold 5,660 vehicles in Asia in February this year and less than 4,000 vehicles in China, down more than 60% year-on-year. Regarding whether the sales data of Lexus in February is true or not, the relevant persons of the company did not respond to CRRC. When talking about whether the terminal sales volume was released in March, the person replied that the statistics had been completed, but it was not convenient to announce it.
Lexus is the only luxury brand owned by Toyota at present. Born in 1983, it was first introduced to North America and named Lexus in China. At present, the brand has only established production bases in the United States and Japan. At the beginning of this year, it set up a production line in Toyota factory in India. Due to the small number of factories in the world, Lexus has limited production compared with competing products.
Luxurious interior, low maintenance rate and high preservation rate make Lexus sell well in North America. In recent years, Lexus has proposed that once the owner buys it, 10 will maintain it for 200,000 kilometers free of charge. Attracted by the low cost of use, Lexus has also developed smoothly in China.
Before the outbreak, Lexus sales in China increased against the trend. In 20 19, Lexus sold 202,000 vehicles in China, up 25% year-on-year, accounting for 26.4% of its total global sales.
The market heat drops, and the suspension of production will not affect the car.
Sun believes that in the past 65,438+00 years, Lexus has been outstanding in failure rate and durability, and has formed a good reputation in China. From the perspective of value preservation, Lexus is one of the fuel vehicles with the highest value preservation rate. In addition, the supply and demand management of its products is well done. Although NX and CT series products are relatively aging at present, there is no big problem in production and demand. After managing the production and order supply, the terminal does not need to bargain fiercely to sell the product.
However, the popularity of Rex market seems to have declined compared with the previous situation in which it was necessary to raise the price to pick up the car. According to reports, Lexus' most popular model ES often had no car in the hands of dealers in 20 19 years. Consumers must make an appointment in advance if they want to buy. 1 After three months, they need to increase the price by 20,000 to 30,000 before they can pick up the car. At the end of 20 19, Toyota was fined 87 million yuan for alleged price monopoly.
Cadillac and Volvo, both luxury second-tier brands like Lexus, have increased their sales in China on 20 19, but they have been acquired under the constant price drop, and both brands have established production bases in China. Lexus has not yet been produced in China, and it is still purely imported.
Under the epidemic situation, overseas demand dropped sharply, affecting Lexus production. However, it is not worried about the shutdown of its local factory. Recently, Toyota announced that it will suspend the production of five factories, including the Miyata factory in Kyushu, Japan, from April 3, and restart the factory at the latest on 15 this month.
It is reported that Kyushu Miyata Factory is responsible for the production of Lexus CT, ES, NX, UX, RX and other models. More than 90% of Lexus produced by this factory are supplied to overseas markets, and most of them are exported to China.
Regarding whether the Japanese factory shutdown will affect the supply in the China market, Lexus insiders told CRRC that the shutdown of the Kyushu factory basically has no impact on the China market, and the output of the factory itself is sufficient to supply the China market. In addition, due to the serious epidemic situation in North America and Europe, the demand has dropped sharply, and now the logistics traffic is not smooth, which further affects local sales. ?
"Demand in Europe and the United States is decreasing, and some cars originally exported to the local area can be adjusted and supplied to the China market instead. And the Japanese factory hasn't been shut down for a long time. In less than half a month, we currently have existing cars at the customs, and the customs is gradually clearing customs, which will not affect the overall sales. " The person stressed.
Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the Federation, told CRRC: "The Lexus Japanese factory stopped production because there is no demand, not because it can't make cars now. Japan did not stop production due to the epidemic in the early stage, and its inventory was relatively rich. The current situation is that Lexus can't sell even if it doesn't stop production, and it is forced to stop production because sales can't keep up. "
Benefiting from consumer groups, follow-up brand value return?
Another person in the industry believes that the decline in Lexus sales in China and the price reduction of terminals are only the beginning, and its brand value will return in the later stage. Car analyst Jia told reporters. Com believes that Lexus did not open the market in Japan when it was first listed, and it is a luxury brand in China, and its value has improved.
Cui Dongshu even bluntly said: "Although Lexus still sells well in China, it has declined compared with the Lexus era. In the past, Lexus was the "key target" of domestic smugglers and one of the best luxury brands in China. "
In the 1990s, the domestic price of Lexus was close to 700,000, but it was as popular as Mercedes-Benz and BMW in people's eyes. "Lexus" has also become synonymous with good cars and luxury cars. Because of its American origin, Lexus was sought after by Chinese Americans, factory owners in Fujian and Guangdong in the early days, which laid the foundation of Lexus brand in China. At that time, the supply of Lexus was limited, and there were fewer information channels related to automobiles. Compared with today, Lexus is more in short supply.
Car analyst Shi Jianfei told CRRC. Com understands that in Europe, the competing products of Lexus are Magotan and Passat, and the prices are relatively close, equivalent to about RMB 200,000. Throughout the world, the luxury attribute of Lexus brand is relatively poor and its recognition is not high.
"lexus ES and Camry * * * use many modules, which are high-end Camry in the eyes of Europeans, and there is no high-tech content, which is known in the industry. Luxury brands are generally prominent in engine technology, variable control technology and internet functions, while Lexus has no bright spots in these aspects. But Lexus has something that luxury brands generally lack, that is, reliability and durability, which also forms the competitiveness of Lexus, "Shi Jianfei analyzed.
Lexus, as an entry-level luxury car, has been selling well in China for a long time, thanks to the psychology of consumers. The new wealth users who have just become rich are still in the early stage of their careers and will soon get married. They don't want to buy mass-produced brands when they buy new cars, but they can't afford expensive luxury cars. They want to buy a car that is easy to use, durable and cheap.
In Shi Jianfei's view, since the reform and opening up, China has been in the rising stage of wealth upstart. Most of these people rely on their own labor remuneration to accumulate wealth, and they are not inclined to choose cars with higher maintenance costs, such as BMW and Audi. Lexus 10 has a warranty of 200,000 kilometers, which is very attractive to this group of people. It can be said that Lexus has studied the characteristics of the corresponding consumer groups clearly and accurately.
"Before Audi and BMW entered China, Lexus was our key vehicle for smuggling. At that time, the demand was in short supply, which led to a higher premium. Now that the supply of Lexus has increased, there is no need to smuggle it when buying it. Prices and popularity are not as good as before. In the future, when we have more information channels, the automobile market is more open and the supply is more adequate, more brands including Lexus will return to their due position in the international market in China. " Shi Jianfei said.
This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.